Health and safety advice

Health and safety legislation is split between our Environmental Health department and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), depending on the type of business.

We’re responsible for the following types of premises:

  • offices
  • shops
  • hotels
  • restaurants
  • leisure premises (not fairgrounds or circuses)
  • nurseries and playgroups
  • pubs and club
  • places of worship
  • sheltered accommodation including care home

Our role includes:

  • inspections of workplaces to ensure they meet the standards
  • giving guidance and advice to businesses so they meet the health and safety standards
  • giving advice to employees, members of the public work-related issues affecting health, safety and welfare
  • investigating work-related accidents, certain dangerous incidents such as 'near misses' and cases of occupational ill health
  • investigating complaints about working conditions and hazards in the workplace
  • licensing and registration of skin piercing premises, Sunday trading activities
  • registering cooling towers – important information if you operate a cooling tower or evaporative condenser can be found here cooling towers

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

The HSE are responsible for health and safety enforcement at larger industries, such as: 

  • factories 
  • farms 
  • building sites
  • schools
  • hospitals and nursing homes

You can contact HSE by calling them on 0300 003 1747.

HSE also produce a wide range of information and advice leaflets for businesses. You can get a full list of available HSE leaflets and guidance from their website.

You can register for free health and safety updates from HSE or browse their books in their shop.

Or you can visit the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health and find out about health and safety training courses.

Reporting an accident at work or work-related disease

Employers must report specific incidents involving workplace death, major injury, over 7 day injuries, dangerous occurrences and gas incidents. Further information, including how to report incidents, can also be found on the HSE website under RIDDOR.

You can also report a health and safety issue or concern using our online portal. You’ll need to register on our online portal.

Once registered:

  1. Go to Requests.
  2. Select Submit a request complaint.
  3. In Request Subject choose Health and Safety at work.
  4. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the application.

Report a health and safety issue at work